Fuel Scarcity Bites Harder As Filling Stations Sell Petrol Above N200
- Filling stations across the country are now selling Premium Motor Spirit as high as N200, in face of harsh economic realities
- The lamentation by many Nigerians is not on the price tag of fuel rather on the availability of the products
- Meanwhile, the black market petrol sellers have taken a deal out of this hardship in the country, as they sell the product at higher rates, smiling to the bank
Motorists, transporters, business owners are now feeling the heat more as fuel scarcity bites harder in various parts of the country.
The cost of transportation is on the rise across the country following the hike in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, in fillings stations in states, The Punch reports.
Many outlets in Nasarawa and other states sold the commodity at N200/litre and above.
Source: Facebook
This was in contrast to the federal government’s approved pump price of N162-N165/litre.
Do you have a groundbreaking story you would like us to publish? Please reach us through info@corp.legit.ng!
IPMAN's position
The national public relations officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chief Ukadike Chinedu, disclosed that the price of petrol in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, was above N200/litre in filling stations.
He said:
“The queues in Port Harcourt are clearing out and filling stations sell at N200 and above for a litre of petrol."
Independent marketers price
It was also gathered that while major marketers were dispensing at N162.5 per litre, independent marketers at suburbs sold at N165.8 per litre. At the black market, prices ranged from N340 to N400 per litre, Vanguard added.
As a result of the fuel scarcity, transport fares increased by more than 300 per cent for both inter and intra-city transport.
Transport fares soars 283% in January, Says NBS
Legit.ng has reported that as a result of the rumoured petrol subsidy removal, the cost of transportation Nigerians paid increased by 283 per cent in January, says Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The average cost of bus transport in Nigerian cities went up from N122.83 in January 2017 to N470.83 in December 2021, the NBS data says.
By this, it means the cost of transportation within cities through bus has increased by 283 per cent, that is B384 in four years, data from the Transport Watch reports of NBS says.
FG plans clampdown on black marketers
In other news, the federal government may clamp down on black marketers of petroleum products soon, even as it tackles the scarcity of the product headlong.
A source in the midstream and downstream regulatory authority told Legit.ng that the activities of the black marketers were worrisome and if serious actions and measures were not taken, the current scarcity won’t disappear as expected.
He said that as the federal government pushes more litres of fuel into filling stations across the country, black marketers were out to sabotage the effort.
Source: Legit.ng
